By Kiesly Jameson
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (née Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.
Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. In her early legal career, she worked at the law firm Sidley Austin where she met her future husband. She subsequently worked in nonprofits and as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. Later, she served as vice president for community and external affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Michelle married Barack in 1992, and they have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Obama campaigned for her husband’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. She was the first African-American woman to serve as first lady. As first lady, Obama worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She has written three books including her The New York Times best selling memoir Becoming (2018) and The Light We Carry (2022).
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Benjamin Franklin, born on January 17, 1706, not only was a world-renowned statesman, inventor, and scientist, but also was fascinated by agriculture. To demonstrate the value of gypsum as fertilizer, he applied it to a field in a pattern that spelled out, “This land has been plastered.” Sure enough, clover in the fertilized area exhibited more vigorous growth.
Question of the Day
Roman engineer Vitruvius (1st century B.C.) once described an odometer. He is generally credited as the first inventor, although some historians believe that the actual creator was Greek scientist Archimedes (c.287-212 B.C.). 1st century Greek scientist Heron (aka Hero) of Alexandria also described an odometer in his work Dioptra. Chinese scholar Zhang (aka Chang) Heng (78-139 A.D.), invented an odometer, as well. French scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-62) came up with an odometer prototype called the Pascaline, and English engineer Thomas Savery (c.1650-1715) invented an odometer for ships.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Benjamin Franklin (U.S. statesman ) –
- James Madison Randolph (grandson of Thomas Jefferson; first baby born in the White House) –
- Anne Brontë (novelist) –
- Al Capone (gangster) –
- Betty White (actress) –
- Eartha Kitt (American singer ) –
- James Earl Jones (actor) –
- Shari Lewis (actress and puppeteer, best know for Lamb Chop) –
- Maury Povich (talk show host) –
- Muhammad Ali (boxer) –
- Mick Taylor (musician) –
- Andy Kaufman (comedian & actor) –
- Steve Harvey (actor and television host) –
- Jim Carrey (actor) –
- Michelle Obama (U.S. First Lady) –
Died
- Thomas Lincoln (father of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln) –
- John Baker (Canada’s last ex-slave) –
- Chang and Eng Bunker (Siamese twins) –
- Rutherford B. Hayes (19th U.S. president) –
- Camilo Jose Cela (won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature for works such as The Family of Pascual Duarte) –
- Harvey Matusow (former aide to Sen. McCarthy who was imprisoned for lying before the House of Un-American Activities) –
- Norman Kay (dubbed the Babe Ruth of bridge”“) –
- Gertrude Janeway (the last widow of a Union veteran from the Civil War) –
- Noble Willingham (actor) –
- Virginia Mayo (actress) –
- Art Buchwald (humorist) –
- Bobby Fischer (champion chess player) –
- Johnny Otis (musician; known as the godfather of R&B) –
Events
- Andrew S. Hallidie received a patent for a cable car system –
- Meeting held to form the Professional Golfers Association –
- The first Volkswagen Beetle arrived in the United States from Germany –
- President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address on television –
- Simon and Garfunkel released their album, Sounds of Silence –
- Gary Gilmore was the first person legally executed in the U.S. after the death penalty was reinstated –
- British Telecom announced the retirement of Britain’s red telephone boxes –
- 6.7 earthquake occurred in Northridge, California –
Weather
- St. Elmo’s fire occurred in the Connecticut River Valley –
- Seventeen degrees below zero F, Millsboro, Delaware –
- Washington, D.C., had a temperature of -5 degrees F –
- Chicago, Illinois, had a temperature of -23 degrees F –
- Boulder, Colorado, had wind gusts up to 135 mph –
- Snow and hail fell in Los Angeles and Malibu, California –
- St. John’s, Newfoundland, recorded new record for most snow in one day with 30 inches (76.2 centimeter) –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
